Vise

ABSTRACT

A quick-acting precision vise including a movable jaw movable rectilinearly toward and away from a stationary or immovable jaw along an anchored vise rack or power bar whereby the jaws may be first manually and quickly brought into contact with two opposite sides of a workpiece, and may be secondly forced into accurate tight locked gripping contact therewith by application of the power of a comparatively fine screw and without causing stress or distortion of the workpiece or of the workholder.

United States Patent 1,125,329 1/1915 Jack Inventor John Jesionowski 1437 Chrysler Ave., Schenectady, N.Y. 12303 Appl. No. 732,313 Filed May 27, 1968 Patented May 11, 1971 VISE 1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 269/212, 269/245, 269/248, 269/285 Int. Cl B25b 1/12 Field of Search 269/172,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,081,995 3/1963 Fujii 269/185 489,327 l/1893 Rathbone 269/285X 1,395,933 11/1921 Stidham 81/137 2,370,042 2/1945 Jesionowski.... 269/285X 2,708,854 5/1955 Makholm 269/251X FOREIGN PATENTS 15,673 2/ 1935 Australia 269/186 914,839 7/1954 Germany 269/245 Primary ExaminerRobert C. Riordon Attorneys-Kenwood Rose and Chester E. Flavin ABSTRACT: A quick-acting precision vise including a movable jaw movable rectilinearly toward and away from a statfionary or immovable jaw along an anchored vise rack or power bar whereby the jaws may be first manually and quickly brought into contact with two opposite sides of a workpiece, and may be secondly forced into accurate tight locked gripping contact therewith by application of the power of a comparatively fine screw and without causing stress or distortion of the workpiece or of the workholder.

Patented May 11, 1971 3,578,308

79 INVENTOR.

3 JOHN JESIONOWSKI BY Mama? 6M6? m ATTORNEYS,

vrsra BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1 Field of THE Invention The field of clamping devices which allow the easy manipulation of a movable member relative to a stationary member so as to accommodate the clamping of various articles therebetween.

2. Description of the Prior Art Jack, US. Pat. No. 1,125,329 ofJan. 1915, Lindstrom, US. Pat. No. 1,223,706 of Apr. 1917, and Peters, US. Pat. No. 1,323,647 of Dec. 1919 have each taught the quick-acting feature in a vise.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention embodies a sine vise having a base mounting a fixed jaw and a rectilinearly movable or slideable jaw, the vise being of such structure that the base can be held in various positions as its longitudinal axis is tilted relative to a horizontal plane so as to permit the workpiece to be correspondingly tilted, thus facilitating operations to be perfonned thereon in the way of cutting, grinding, optical jig boring, and the like. Additionally, the movable jaw is so intercoupled to a vise rack or power bar anchored'to the fixed jaw that the movable jaw can be quickly brought toward the stationary jaw for clamping a workpiece therebetween and can be forced into tighter gripping contact by means of power applied through a comparatively fine screw.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT For convenience, the left-hand end of the vise, as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2, will be called the rear end and he right-hand end will be called the front end.

The vise embodies a sine base or bed plate 10, generally corresponding to a sine bar, and provided on its lower planar face with a plurality of spaced, parallel, longitudinally and inwardly-extending grooves or channels 12 (see FIGS. 3-5) of the same or different widths for engagement with lugs or lands on any suitable machine tool bed or table to locate the vise relative thereto, all wherefor a workpiece clamped in the vise may be operated upon by a tool of a milling machine, shaper, planer, drill press, or the like. Otherwise, the sine baseplate may be supported upon and connected to a magnetic chuck face.

Grooves or channels 13 may be provided in each of the upstanding sidewalls of sine baseplate 10, also for allowing engagement with lugs or lands, should it be desired to place the vise on a side for bringing the workpiece to a tool in another arrangement.

Transverse sine rolls l4 and 16 are seated, at opposite ends of sine baseplate 10, in transversely-extending recesses 18 and 20 respectively, which recesses are disposed parallel to the faces of the jaws, presently to be described and extend upwardly from the lower planar face of the sine baseplate, the sine rolls being secured to the sine baseplate as by bolts 22 and being preferentially disposed slightly upwardly of the lower surface of the sine baseplate so as not to be exposed to wear in use.

Gauge or size blocks (not shown) may be inserted beneath the sine rolls to allow the tilting of the vise to any desired angle.

The lower face of the sine baseplate is also provided with a transversely-extending recess 24 at its front end, and a sine pad 26, having a semicircular protrusion 28 depending downwardly from its lower surface, is positioned in a transversely-extending groove 30 provided in recess 24 as by a bolt 32, with the protrusion being adapted to rest on the upper surface of the uppermost size or measuring block of a stack of such blocks disposed therebelow. Thus, the sine base plate may be adjusted to various positions as its longitudinal axis is tilted relative to a horizontal plane, the sine baseplate and the vise which it carries being supported in tilted position by the size blocks.

Sine baseplate I0 is further provided, on its upper planar face, with a centrally-located longitudinally-extending dovetailed recess 34, in which recess a stretch and draw bar 36 of complemental configuration is nestably received. The two dovetailed components define a first anchor feature so as to preclude the clamping components from lifting or raising and to hold the workpiece downwardly and under force, all as will appear hereinafter.

An upright stationary or fixed jaw 42 is fixedly mounted on and secured to the rearward end of the sine baseplate as by bolting 44 and may be provided with a vertically-extending centrally-located V-slot 46 on its forwardly-facing face for aiding the function of holding a workpiece in situ relative thereto.

The rearward portion of stretch and draw bar 36 extends under fixed jaw 42 and is provided with an integral upwardlyextending rocker stud 47 which is disposable in a complemental vertically-extending recess 49 in the lower planar face of the fixed jaw. The rocker stud aids in anchoring the stretch and draw bar with respect to the fixed jaw.

Rocker stud 47 is generally egg-shaped so as to define an enlarged midportion having a bearing relationship with the wall of recess 49 wherefor the stretch and draw bar is allowed a slight freedom for pivoting or twisting with respect to'the fixed jaw.

A movable jaw, generally indicated by 48, is slideably mounted on the sine baseplate for movement therealong and rectilinearly toward and away from fixed jaw 42 by means of a pair of spaced oppositely-facing guide bars or shoes 50, 50, the upper parts of which are seated in respective inwardly-extending recesses in the lower face of the movable jaw and the lower parts of which in the form of enlarged foot portions depend downwardly of the plane of the lower face of the movable jaw, said guide bars or shoes being fixed relative to the movable jaw as by screws 51.

The enlarged foot portions of the guide bars are each slideably receivable in the respective of complementaIly-cpnfigured guide slots 52, 52 in the upper face of sine baseplate 10 adjacent a side of stretch and draw bar 36.

Movable jaw 48 is additionally provided with a pair of concentric longitudinally-extending substantially annular bores 54 and 56 along its front-to-rear axis, as shown. Larger bore 54 extends inwardly from the front face of the movable jaw and smaller bore 56 extends rearwardly beyond the rearward end of bore 54 with an annular shoulder 58 being thus defined therebetween.

A longitudinally-extending lock screw, generally indicated by 60, has a rearwardmost unthreaded ball end 62 which seats in bore 56 of the movable jaw and an extemally-threaded central portion 64 which is freely extendable through bore 54 and a forward unthreaded neck portion 72 and a forwardmost enlarged head portion 74.

An annular groove 66 on the periphery of ball end 62 of lock screw 60 allows running engagement for a guide 68 at the innermost end of an upwardly-extending set screw 70 threadedly received in a suitably-provided opening in movable jaw 48, which guide precludes axial displacement of the lock screw relative to the movable jaw.

A cam 76 circumscribes and is in continuous threaded engagement with central portion 64 of the lock screw and has a plurality of spaced precision-ground angularly-disposed teeth segments 78 extending generally radially outwardly of the lower surface of the cam periphery, which teeth segments are selectively engageable with and disengageable from the spaced precision-ground complementally-inclined angle or rack teeth 79 in the upper planar surface of stretch and draw bar 36 as the cam is rotated through an arc in clockwise and counterclockwise directions respectively, as viewed from the forward end of the structure, as in FIG. 3.

The interengagement of teeth segments 78 and rack teeth 79 defines a third anchor feature so as to preclude the clamping components from lifting or raising and to hold the workpiece downwardly and under force.

Rotation of lock screw 60 in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 3, accomplished by a means yet .to be described, serves to. rotate cam 76 through an are so as to cause teeth segments 78 to disengage from rack teeth 79 of stretch and draw bar 36, wherefor the movable jaw is free to be quickly moved manually from one location to another, carrying the cam therewith.

Rotation of the lock screw in a clockwise direction serves to rotate the cam through an arc so as to cause. the teeth segments to engage with the rack teeth, wherefor the movable jaw is then intercoupled with the stretch and draw bar. There following, rotation of the lock screw in a clockwise direction drives the movable jaw rearwardly toward the fixed jaw through the pressure exerted on the movable jaw via ball end As seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, a friction plug 77 is nested in a provided radially-disposed opening in cam 76, with the innermost end thereof bearing against central portion 64 of the lock screw, for precluding movement of the latter as a ratchet pawl 104, to be described, is moved from one groove 102 to another, the friction plug being held in situ by a set screw 81 threaded in'the-cam. The friction plug will tend to move the cam concomitantly with lock screw 60 but does not preclude the relative movement of the lock screw when the ratchet swivel handle is operated to advance or retract the movable aw.

A cam shifting ring 80 freely circumscribes neck portion 72 of the lock screw and has a manually-engageable cam shifting handle .82 fixed thereto and extending radially-outwardly therefrom.

A cam shifting pin has a forward end 84 fixedly received in a suitable opening in cam shifting ring 80 and a rearward end 86 extending freely into bore 54 in movable jaw 48, the cam shifting pin being receivable in a longitudinally-extending groove 88 provided in the peripheral surface of the cam so that any upward or downward movement-of handle 82 effects a concomitant movement of the cam, thereby to move the teeth segments of the cam into or out of interlocking engagement with the teeth of the ratchet stretch and draw bar.

Bore 54 of movable jaw 48 is relieved at one side as at 55, and dovetailed recess 34 of sine baseplate is relieved as at 35, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, so as to allow the teeth segments to be swung into and out of their interlocking engagement with the rack teeth.

Fine incremental rectilinear movement of movable jaw 48 is effected by a ratchet swivel handle or crank 90, bifurcated at its rearwardmost end so as to be pivotally engageable, by means of a pivot pin 92, with a ratchet swivel stud 94 seated in an opening in and extending outwardly from the lock screw.

- The ratchet swivel stud is disposed in and has a running engagement with neck portion 72 of the lock screw by means of a follower 96 threadedly engaged in the neck portion so that its inner end rides in an annular groove in the periphery of the ratchet swivel stud, all wherefor the lock screw and the ratchet swivel handle rotate separately, they being interconnected only when a ratchet pawl 104 is engaged in one of the provided radially-arranged inwardly-extending grooves 102 on the forwardly-facing end face of head portion 74 of the lock screw.

A spring-biased detent 98 is slideable relative to ratchet swivel stud 94 and has an innermost end seated on a spring 100 disposed in a provided cavity in lock screw 60.

Ratchet swivel handle 90 has a ratchet pawl 104 extending transversely therethrough adjacent its innermost end and adjacent head portion 74 of the lock screw, the ratchet pawl having an actuating lever 106 fixed thereto and being transversely slideable relative to the ratchet swivel handle and held under tension by a longitudinally-extending leaf spring 108 seated in a provided groove 109 in the handle and fixed at its forwardmost end within the groove as by a set screw 110 threaded in the ratchet swivel handle. The opposite or rearwardmost end of the leaf spring is engageable in a provided peripheral groove in the ratchet pawl, as shown to bias the ratchet pawl outwardly.

The bifurcated ends of ratchet swivel handle 90 are of arcuate shape and are provided with a plurality of circumferentiaJly-arranged notches 112 in which a stop pin 114, pressed to the outermost end by detent 98, is selectively engageable.

When ratchet swivel handle 90 is in the solid line position i]- lustrated in FIG. 1, ratchet pawl 104 is out of engagement with grooves 102 of lock screw 60,'but yet stop pin 114 is engaged with one of the notches 112 to preclude swinging movement of the handle. The stop pin is inside a slot in ratchet swivel stud 94 and rides in an annular recess in the head of lock screw 60, whereby the ratchet swivel handle 90 and ratchet swivel stud are free to rotate relative to the lock screw.

When ratchet swivel handle 90 is moved to the phantom line position illustrated in FIG. 1, at a 90 angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the vise, ratchet pawl 104 is engaged in one of grooves 102 in lock screw 60 whereby clockwise tuming movement of the handle in the manner of a thumb screw is precluded, but swinging of the handle as a crank or lever is effected so as to rotate grooves 102 around until the jaws grip the workpiece firmly.

Friction plug 77 in cam 76 precludes movement of ratchet lock screw 60 as pawl 104 is moved from one groove 102 to another. Each successive groove 102 turns the .lock screw one notch tighter to push the movable jaw firmly against the work.

Cam 76, threadedly engaged with lock screw 60, is movable between shoulder 58 of movable jaw 48 and the rearwardly facing face of cam shifting ring 80 without inducing any movement of the movable jaw when acted upon by lock screw 60 and when not in engagement with stretch and draw bar 36.

'When the cam is engaged with the stretch and draw bar, then the movable jaw must move between shoulder 58 and the face of cam shifting ring 80 when acted upon by screw 60 on threads 64 and ball end 62.

When handle 82 is in the solid line position of FIG. 3, teeth segments 78 on cam 76 are engaged with stretch and draw bar 36, as shown in FIG. 4, whereby rectilinear movement of cam relative to sine baseplate 10 is precluded. The cam, when engaged with the stretch and draw bar, is immovable so that a turn of lock screw 60 turns inside threads 64 forwardly or rearwardly.

When handle 82 is moved to the phantom line position of FIG. 3, the teeth segments on the cam are removed from engagement with the stretch and draw bar, as shown in FIG. 5, whereby the movable jaw may be moved rectilinearly relative to the sine baseplate and fixed jaw 42.

Handle 90, when in phantom position as shown in FIG. 1, is engaged by means of pawl 104 which engages in one of the grooves 102 in lock screw 60. By such means, handle and lock screw 60 are interengaged. Handle 90, when in the 01 phantom position (shown in FIG. 3) or in the 02 phantom position, and when so interengaged with lock screw 60, may be rotated clockwise to the position indicated as phantom position 03 and if the workpiece is not yet locked, rotation may continue to position 04, or 05, or 06, or 07, or 08, until the workpiece is locked. And even then, if the workpiece is still not yet locked, the handle may be ratcheted back in a counterclockwise direction and then again rotated clockwise (toward the 08 position), until the workpiece is firmly locked.

Handle 90 may then be disengaged by swinging it to the solid line position shown in FIG. 1, all so as to position it in a noninterfering position as operations on the workpiece are being performed.

The movable jaw is mounted as a sliding fit or slightly loose so that when it is motivated by lock screw 60 into workpiece locking position, it exhibits a tendency to lift slightly (ie. as much as 0.00] inch), particularly when and if the workpiece is locked high up in the jaws. When the movable jaw so lifts, it is enabled to take the workpiece therewithv To offset this lift characteristic, it will be appreciated that a trio of anchors are provided, namely:

1 dovetail anchor slot 34 is sine baseplate l0 2. dovetailed stretch bar 36 anchored in anchor stud 47 3. cam segmentteeth 78 in angle teeth 79 in the anchor stretch bar,

All three anchor points are exploited, the dovetail, the stud, and the angle teeth, to control the slide jaw grip and to hold the workpiece with force.

The stretch and draw bar functions as an imbedded power bar which forces the movable jaw toward the fixed jaw so as firmly to hold a workpiece therebetween without distorting the vise body or sine baseplate.

The stretch and draw bar is small in cross section, requiring only a small recess in the sine baseplate, so that the latter can be of smaller than usual si7x: without any sacrifice of strength in the vise.

I claim:

1. A vise comprising:

a baseplate having an upper longitudinally-extending dovetailed recess,

a dovetailed stretch and draw bar nestably receivable within the complemental recess of the baseplate and having longitudinally spaced rack teeth on the upper surface thereof,

a fixed jaw secured to one end of the baseplate and having a recess extending inwardly from the lower face thereof, the stretch and draw bar having an upstanding rocker stud receivable in the recess of the fixed jaw,

a movable jaw slidably mounted on the baseplate,

a pair of guide bars fixed to the movable jaw and receivable in complcmental recesses in the baseplate for the sliding rectilinear movement of the movable jaw relative to the baseplate toward and away from the fixed jaw,

the movable jaw being provided with a longitudinally-extending bore extending thereinto from the forward face of the movable jaw,

a rotatable lock screw having a rearward extremity receivable in the bore of the movablejaw and a forward extremity extending forwardly of the movable jaw and an externally threaded central portion,

guide means for precluding axial displacement of the lock screw relative to the movable jaw,

an internally-threaded annular cam threaded upon the central portion of the lock screw? and having a plurality of teeth segments projecting outwardly of the periphery thereof and being engageable with the rack teeth of the stretch and draw bar as the cam is rotated into a locked position of movable jaw and baseplate and being disengageable with the rack teeth of the stretch and draw bar as the cam is rotated into an unlocked position of movable jaw and baseplate,

means tending to hold the cam fixed relative to the lock screw,

means for rotating the cam into and out of intermeshing en gagement with the stretch and draw bar,

a ratchet swivel handle crank means pivotally mounted relative to the forward extremity of the lock screw,

the forward extremity of the lock screw being provided with a series of radially arranged peripherally disposed grooves, and an outwardly extending pawl carried by the ratchet swivel handle crank means and engageahlc in one of the grooves of the lock screw upon the swiveling of the ratchet swivel handle relative to the lock screw for the ratcheting of the lock screw and the advancement in fine incremental movement of the movable jaw toward the fixed jawv 

1. A vise comprising: a baseplate having an upper longitudinally-extending dovetailed recess, a dovetailed stretch and draw bar nestably receivable within the complemental recess of the baseplate and having longitudinally spaced rack teeth on the upper surface thereof, a fixed jaw secured to one end of the baseplate and having a recess extending inwardly from the lower face thereof, the stretch and draw bar having an upstanding rocker stud receivable in the recess of the fixed jaw, a movable jaw slidably mounted on the baseplate, a pair of guide bars fixed to the movable jaw and receivable in complemental recesses in the baseplate for the sliding rectilinear movement of the movable jaw relative to the baseplate toward and away from the fixed jaw, the movable jaw being provided with a longitudinally-extending bore extending thereinto from the forward face of the movable jaw, a rotatable lock screw having a rearward extremity receivable in the bore of the movable jaw and a forward extremity extending forwardly of the movable jaw and an externally threaded central portion, guide means for precluding axial displacement of the lock screw relative to the movable jaw, an internally-threaded annular cam threaded upon the central portion of the lock screw and having a plurality of teeth segments projecting outwardly of the periphery thereof and being engageable with the rack teeth of the stretch and draw bar as the cam is rotated into a locked position of movable jaw and baseplate and being disengageable with the rack teeth of the stretch and draw bar as the cam is rotated into an unlocked position of movable jaw and baseplate, means tending to hold the cam fixed relative to the lock screw, means for rotating the cam into and out of intermeshing engagement with the stretch and draw bar, a ratchet swivel handle crank means pivotally mounted relative to the forward extremity of the lock screw, the forward extremity of the lock screw being provided with a series of radially arranged peripherally disposed grooves, and an outwardly extending pawl carried by the ratchet swivel handle crank means and engageable in one of the grooves of the lock screw upon the swiveling of the ratchet swivel handle relative to the lock screw for the ratcheting of the lock screw and the advancement in fine incremental movement of the movable jaw toward the fixed jaw. 